Your Best Eccentric/Esoteric Tracks
There are a lot of different ways to do a top-ten list like this but for the sake of organization I’ve chosen these criteria:
1. artist that most people might have heard of but haven’t ever listened to or haven’t heard of at all. I had almost put a song by Buffalo Springfield on this list but while most people had probably never heard of the song they had definitely listened to the band’s other music before…that doesn’t count.
2. you probably discovered by accident, not from recommendations or magazines, etc. Most of these artists I heard randomly or liked the cover art of the album and bought it without listening to it first.
3. should reflect your eccentricities. We all know you’re really a 12-year old girl inside, now’s the time to let it out.
4. should be a song that you really, really like…I mean really like. No filler. You might make decisions in life based on this song.
For better or worse I excluded tracks that weren’t on iTunes because I wanted everybody to be able to listen to them if they wanted to. You obviously don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. The ultimate top-ten list would be “the top-ten tracks not available on iTunes”.
Here are mine…arranged in order:
Position, Song, Artist, Album
10. Man O’ War, Erich Bachmann, To the Races
I can’t remember where I heard this originally…but it’s pretty and I can’t figure out what it means.
9. The Dog Tomorrow, Nina Violet & The Invisible Orchestra, Self-Titled
This is a weird song but I heard it at a very specific moment and it stuck with me…I don’t know if anyone else will be able to get into it or not. She was playing with someone else who I can’t remember anymore. She lives on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, is some sort of hippie, and I always imagine her and I being in some heartbreaking relationship…don’t tell anyone.
8. Two Trains Running, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, East-West
I think my Dad had a Paul Butterfield record but I can’t remember specifically where I heard about the band…they’re sort of well-known but most folks haven’t actually listened to their music. One day in Amoeba I saw this album and said “fuck it”. That’s also what the song seems to be about.
7. Nocturne No. 15 in F Minor, Chopin, Nocturnes: Selections (Idil Beret)
This is a song that proves time travel is possible. If you put it on and don’t walk through marble-pillared hallways lit by candlelight in your mind then I suggest eating a bag of mushrooms at the Huntington Museum…acid’s probably not a good idea there.
6. Keleya, Moussa Doumbia, World Psychedelic Classics Vol. 3
This song came from somewhere in Africa…I heard it on the radio one day and then never heard it again. Impossible to describe.
5. Frozen, Daniel Lanois, Belladonna
A few people know this guy really well but I’ve found most people don’t seem to (might be a generational thing)…at least his later instrumental stuff. I got into him because he’s a master pedal steel player and in my opinion there’s no better instrument. I was searching online for modern pedal-steel players and his name came up.
4. Hoover, Holopaw, Self-Titled
I saw these guys open for Iron and Wine about seven years ago and was struck by this song. They never really got much attention, mostly because their subsequent album was not good.
3. The Last of the Arkansas Greyhounds, Leo Kotke, 6 and 12 String Guitar
Among some people this album is very well known, among most people it isn’t. This is a pretty esoteric song but it reminds me of walking through wheat fields at twilight, a la Days of Heaven. I bought it when I was 19 or 20 because I liked the cover art. It has an armadillo on it.
2. Smoking Signals, Sean Hayes, Alabama Chicken
This is a weirdo out of San Francisco. His songs either suck or are beautiful. This is one of the beautiful ones.
1. Call Me Doctor, The Glands, Double Thriller
I found this band in the $1.00 bin at Amoeba and I’ve subsequently found them there over and over again. I can’t figure it out. As with #3 on the criteria for this list, this song describes my inner-life about as well as it could be described.
So that’s the list. If anyone wants to listen follow the link below or if we’re going to see one another e-mail me and I’ll bring it on a thumb drive or something.
I think subsequent lists could be: best unknown albums, deep-tracks by well known artists, etc.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:16 am
I need to sleep but I wanted to tell you that this post makes me smile. And I love the Glands too.
February 8th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Dude. I’ve seen Leo Kottke live. Nice selection.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
This is Darondo…he was a certified Pimp from San Fran circa 1970…put out this record….very hard to find up until a year or so ago. This is a transformative song for me….speaks to my soul…I make decisions every day based on the weight of this tune…..
February 15th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
I spent most of the night on V day pondering the full meaning of a top ten esoteric songs. i started by going to m-w.com to actually find out the meaning of this word. Next I riffled through the massive list of songs within the itunes library. Here were mine (although I did not make a nifty tracks list within the Istore):
10. The Ohsees – Quadrospazzed
Found out about this band when they opened for Dodos on one of their first tours. It was a free show at the Ground Zero coffee shop within the “Trojan Horse”. I currently cant seem to their new album out of my 6-cd rotation. (George you would like this band)
9. Isotope 217 – Beneath the Undertow
Jazz song for my life as a character in a David Mamet movie or the real song that should have been playing for the Beastie Boys Sabotage video.
8. James Chance – Almost Black Part 1
Just cant help myself with this one.
7. Daniel Higgs – Living in the Kingdom of Death
Acoustic ballad that could lull me to sleep every night, causing the most beautifully vibrant nightmares, I imagine. One night I just sat in my car with Capt Shabbin listening to this song with utter silence. The first time I heard this song it was 1 am, I needed to sleep but started copying the song to my itunes library. I had the option on autoplay once it is copying. So it started playing without me telling it. I was sent into a trance. I sat staring at my screen for an hr within surfing the internet. I just listened and looked at the screen.
6. Fire on Fire – Grin
I am just mad I missed them playing at the knitting factory 5 wednesdays ago.
5. Gastr Del Sol – Dictionary of Handwriting
John McEntire on drums to this song speaks to that 12 year old girl you spoke of GP. This song just fucking rocks.
4. James Blackshaw – The Cloud of Unknowing
No lyrics, just 11 minutes of the most intricate acoustic guitar loops. (He is playing on Saturday at Spaceland.) One minute into the song I always want to float into space, too bad about gravity.
3. Shrimp Boat – Collecting Me
The divergence of feelings towards the songs of shrimp boat are amazing. From one song to the next I will love and equally hate the next. But this one is perfect (well near perfect or I would have it number one)
2. Seth Olinsky – Dirt Road Cloud of Light
Just to be an ass I was going to but all 60 of the songs off his solo album here, but limited it to just this one. The banjo that splices into the mid section of the song rips my heart in half. Sometimes this song comes on randomly on my ipod at work, I am not going to lie I fucking sing out and do the foot dance under my desk. Tantric. His lyrical style and tone speaks to my core. “You hold on til its safe”
1. Michael Gira – Blind
Buy this song off some site if you dont have it. It is my life. It is my darkness. It is my truth. It is my hope. It is my never again.
Basically take the first four chapters of the Big Book and replace it with these lyrics:
Now some of us are weak, and some endure
Some people live their lives with a violence that’s pure and clean
But I saw man cry once, down on his knees
In a corner of a darkened cell, and his pain meant nothing to me
But I was younger then
Young men never die
And I walked out in the sun
I was strong, clear-minded and blind
Now don’t say a prayer for anyone
It doesn’t do any good
Please don’t ask me a question
It’d just be misunderstood
And if you could step inside me you’d feel what hatred brings
And if you saw with my eyes you’d see what self-deception means
I was younger once and I created a lie
And though my body was strong
I was self-deluded, confident and blind
Now show some pity for the weak of will
Because when we’re drinking we can never be filled
Show some understanding for the lonely fool
Because when I am drinking I am out of control
I was never young
Nothing has transpired
And when I look in the mirror I feel dead, I feel cold
I am blind
I am blind
I am blind
I am blind
February 17th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Beautiful man, absolutely beautiful. Will you post the tracks somewhere so that we can download them? I have some that you gave me but not all of ‘em.
Love you!